Sights of Frankfurt's Christmas Market.

Love our Christmas tradition of drinking mulled wine in ceramic mugs while taking in the particular place's authentic Christmas decor, crafts, and foods.

Merry Christmas!

Heidelberg Castle.

This partly ruined and yet still impressive castle sits up on a hill overlooking the historic city of Heidelberg.

Entering under the looming clock tower, visitors are exposed to the palace's beautiful mix of architecture, a result of intentional alterations and warfare destruction. 

The various balconies provide views of the city below, the Neckar River, and the old bridge.

It also houses the world's biggest wine barrel.

Photo credit to Ben Timberlake.

Merry Christmas from Pristina.

Photo by Alicia English

Feeling Thankful.

This weekend, I'm thankful for a hand to hold while strolling through a Christmas market.



For homemade pumpkin pie made from fresh pumpkin.



For views of mountains and fresh air.



For Neptune's flair.



For afternoon dates that include spritzes.

For seeing a new city, Padova. 

For strangolapreti soaked in a savory butter sauce.



For trains with outlets and wine.

For cannoli that melt in my mouth and make my heart sing.

For Bambino and Italian sweets.



For Christmas cheer already in the air.

Happy Thanksgiving from Italy!

Christmas Day Mass.

We went here for Christmas Day Mass.

Happy Birthday, Jesus.

Love.

Merry Christmas!

 Nothing says "Christmas in Germany" like a beer garden and a pretzel and a horizon lined with Baroque churches.

Nuremberg For Christmas.

Hot PB&J.

It can no longer be the holidays for me until I've had a bratwurst, some fresh roasted nuts, and many glasses of gluhwein.  Good thing I am in Munich, Germany where there are loads of all of my favorite holiday treats.

And check out this little gem I discovered while meandering through the Christmas light-lined booths of the main Christmas market.

A few roasted peanuts plus a swig of gluhwein tastes just like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Turn up the Christmas music, I think my holidays are ready to begin!

Christmas Market Dinner.

Brats and Gluhwein.

I heart Christmas in Europe.

Hello, Munich.

An excellent commencement of Christmas Break 2012!

Christmas in Turino.

Magical. Beautiful. Totally Italian.

We concert hopped between beautiful Christian churches playing music.

Cafe hopped to taste a variety of Italian drinks, coffees, and sandwiches that seem to come with drinks ordered at the banco.

Attended a Catholic Mass where Cathy was asked to do a reading and we somehow missed communion.

Went to a 4 course dinner at C'era Una Volta where we were greeted with glasses of chilled champagne. The dinner was delicious -- they even catered to Mr. Umbrella's vegetarian needs -- and it was very well priced. For budget travelers, we recommend the house wine -- it was only 9 euro for a bottle, and our table's consensus was that it actually tasted better than our more expensive bottle. {I mean you know we had more than one.}

Goodbye Lyon.

Good News!
We found ourselves a French Christmas market minutes from our hotel.

And, with our hearts full of Christmas and our heads spinning from Vin Chaud, we head to Italy.

Buche de Noel.

Buche de Delicious.

I'm not going to lie; I retained very little of the French language from the 4 years that I took it in high school. What I do remember very well, is that a French Christmas tradition includes indulging in Buche de Noel. A cake rolled with creams and frosting that resembles a log.

So we did like the French and ate some wood. And it really was de-to-the-licious.

Can't make it to France but want to pretend?

Try making the recipe at home!

Frenchie Christmas Love.

Merry Christmas Eve!!

Love,

A.B.C.

Gluhwein and Christmas Sparkles.

Sometimes things turn out exactly how you want them to.

And stumbling onto a Christmas market once darkness began to blanket Basel, was exactly the way I wanted things to turn out on my first night in Switzerland.

Old School and Christmas Markets.

I awoke on December 19 to find myself sleeping with my boyfriend in a twin sized bed for the first time since college thanks to our cheap hotel and, despite this fact, I was ecstatic for multiple reasons.

A. I was in Basel, Switzerland.

B. One of my best friends from college would be arriving all the way from Chi-town very soon.

But A comes before B, so my group and I headed out to do some Basel.

First thing to note: Many museums are closed on Monday, so plan ahead!

We decided to walk around old town Basel and take in some sights of the market square, hear some bell ringers, and see the Tinguely Fountain {Jean Tinguely is a sculptor and painter dedicated to kinetic art}. If you're around on a non-Monday, check out his full museum: Museum Tinguely. We were pretty freakin' sad to have missed out on it!

To finish our walking tour, we stopped off at a Christmas Market for some pretzel sandwiches and mulled wine.

D-to-the-licious.